New Baby Birth Annoucements

These were birth announcements I made to send to my friends and family! The design is a blue 5x7 textured carstock with rounded corners and a dot embossed peek a boo window. It features a baby blue ribbon with a complementary layered wording plaque. I added the photo behind the peek a boo window. Everyone loved the idea!

More information is available from this link:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/171013200/new-baby-birth-announcements?

Scrapbooking 2012

I am finally finished with my year album of 2012! 

Here is my New Year's layout. I used a metallic silver background page and highlighted it with black and white accents. I used Lifestyle Crafts shape and tape black and white pages and cut out nesting pennant shapes which I layered with black glitter shapes. A silver alphabet sticker pack was used for the title. I cut out varying shapes with the same black and white design to accent the photos. To top it off, I added a strip of sparkly black ribbon. 

To celebrate my birthday, a bunch of us went out to a local Tiki bar. I used a Paper Studio's Beach pad (http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/12-x-12-a-day-at-the-beach-paper-pack-275719/) design for the layout and added random colorful scrap pages I already had to accent the photos. I downloaded a Tiki Font for the title tag: Tiki Birthday Drinks. I added an eyelet and a string to the tag. I accented the page with random coconut and drink shaped stickers. 

Bowling for my friend's Birthday celebration! I used a photorealistic wood grain paper as a background. The main photo was made into a 5x7 and accented with a wood patterned stamp on white paper. I used red letters from a previous project for the title. I also accented the entire page with Lifestyle Craft's Bowling die. 

This page is one of my favorites! It is my brother in front of his Army vehicle. I used a green military star background page and accented the 8x10 photo with a burlap sack look a like paper. I added real burlap under the Brave and Proud stickers, as well as my journaling tag. I frayed the edges to make it look more rough and tumble. I downloaded an army man font in which I spelled out his rank and name. I topped the page off with Army Man brads from Eyeletoulet.com and muddy boot prints. 

I chose this purple floral Mother's Day paper from my stockpile. I added purple polka dot color blocks to accent the trimmed photos. Plain white tags were added with some journaling. I accented the page with a purple stamped 'Happy Mother's Day' and purple flower stickers. 

For my father's day layout, I chose to use brown. I have a plain brown paper as the background and accented it with a brownish colored paper from The Paper Studio's Natural Botanical paper pad (http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/12-x-12-natural-botanical-premium-cardstock-pack-546846/) trimmed to 11x11. I added a strip of cork to accent the title block, which was made out of plain brown paper trimmed with a patterned scissors. I added remnant brown tile stickers from my collection and spelled out Father's Day with brown alphabet stickers. I attached a hammer and wrench brad, also from Eyeletoutlet.com. Finally, the title block was attached to the cork using screw brads I purchased at Hobby Lobby. 

Coming home from a show, my car broke down! I had to include this in my year. I chose a plain black background with red paper accents as the car is red and black. I used a leather-like photorealistic paper to accent to photo and rounded the corners. I purchased a black and silver alphabet to spell out the title. 

Some friends decided to tail gate and attend a Brewer's Game. I used a plain white background and used a nesting circles die set (http://weronthenet.com/Nesting_Dies) to create different sized circle photos, baseball paper, and plain red layers. I used the same dies to trace red circles on the white paper and used a marker to add 'stitch' marks as are on a baseball. I added a nonlinear title to complement the circle theme of the page. 

I used a lot of colorful birthday themed paper for this layout. I purchased all these 12x12 sheets from Michaels. I layered the photos onto randomly sized birthday candle paper which was attached to a rainbow and black happy birthday background. I used the same circle nesting dies (http://weronthenet.com/Nesting_Dies) to create the title half circle. I added stickers from my collection to complete the title. 

Girls night! This was one of my favorite pages to create. I used Lifestyle Crafts paper doll die cut with a sparkly glitter black dress. The background is a plain purple cardstock sheet accented with a purple leopard print page. I attached a small light purple side tab and added purple kiss stamps. I created a layered matching purple and black glitter journaling tag. The photo and photo mat, which is the same black glitter page used for the dress, were cut using Lifestyle Crafts nesting frame die set (http://weronthenet.com/Nesting_Dies). I added some clear and purple rhinestones to give the page some extra bling. I also added a girls night out sticker to the side. 

I visited my friend's son at daycare and we snapped some pictures of him playing in the toy car. To highlight the car theme, I chose car paper. I accented to photos with the car paper blocks and used a star die cut to cut out green stars. I further accented the page with a sun and pinwheel sticker. I used a light green sticker alphabet to create the title. 

My husband and I picked all Beatles songs for our wedding music. The Britons are a cover band, so we shared a dance at a local festival they play every year. I used plain purple cardstock for the background and a colorful star paper to accent it page. I cut out random die cut shapes and attached purple sparkle sticker letters to spell out the band's name. I trimmed and adhered the photos and added a small journaling tab at the bottom. 

This page features a green textured background paper that I don't quite know what it is supposed to be. But, it works for this! I added trimmed photos without any background or space. To accent the page, I added the car show's logo which was printed at home and then cut out. I used a nesting frame to create a journaling spot and added some beer mug stickers. After all, what's a car show without beer!

This page captures a two year old boy's birthday party. We all went finishing for ducks, so I picked a duck theme. The background is a plain sheet of orange cardstock. I cut out photo corners and duck shapes using Lifestyle Crafts shape and tape yellow papers. I also added the yellow present using the same paper. I used Lifestyle Crafts nesting doily to create the large circle in which I attached a clearance duck iron on I purchased from Hobby Lobby. I added a journaling tag which states, "woo hoo! Look who's two!"

This is one of my favorite pages! Here is our new puppy, Francis. This page uses a green woodgrain pattern for a background and a greenish-brown polka dot accent piece that I trimmed on all sides with a shaped scissors. I used a dot ribbon to create a 'collar' along the top and spelled out his name using small circles, that to me, look like collar tags. I cut out a bone shape to add some journaling. I added some dog stickers along the bottom of the accent page and created a texture paste paw print badge which I placed as the accent focal point. 

Here's Francis getting his first bath! I experimented with the bubbles and wasn't really able to get the look I wanted. I was hoping to use vellum bubbles so they would be see through, but any glue I tried to use showed through the paper. I ended up using Modge Podge on the whole circle. I used Lifestyle Crafts nesting circles for all the bubbles and the photos. I had an old water splotch sticker which I used as a background for the title, which I drew using big bubble letters and colored with colored pencil. 

This page was created with a The Paper Studio Halloween page kit I picked up on clearance from Hobby Lobby. I used a purple polka dot background and attached a smaller sheet of multi colored stripes. I created an 8x10 collage print at Walgreens.com and used that instead of gluing on separate photos. I accented the bottom of the page with black sparkly rick rack which are holding bat paper tags. I put pumpkin stickers over the bat tags and added the smiling pumpkin to the side. I used the Happy Halloween sticker as my title and added a journaling tag. 

Francis loves going to the park. While we got him in fall, he still had a few visits before winter. Here are some photos of him making new friends. I trimmed the photos and added them to orange polka dot paper which was glued to a leaf themed background. Both papers were from The Paper Studio's Natural Botanical paper pad (http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/12-x-12-natural-botanical-premium-cardstock-pack-546846/). I wanted a fall theme instead of a dog theme so I created trees using the same orange paper as background for the photos. I die cut complementary letters and added them to the trees. The rest of the title is in the journaling block and reads "Puppy Playtime." I added a felt leaf to the journaling block as an accent. 

I stuck with a black and white theme for our first anniversary picture. The paper was from my stockpile and I cut a random sized plain black sheet for a photo mat. I added a white architectural photo corner underneath the picture as an accent. To attach the movie ticket, I used the Paper Studio paper clip embellishments. I added an embossed and nested frame die cut journaling block. 

I decided to include our holiday family photo to close out the year. It will make for a good tradition to track them every year. I also added a photo of Francis wearing antler ears because it was cute. I attached green ribbon to random sized red cardstock rectangles. These were used to accent the photos. I then added an embellishment tag and glittery red poinsettia stickers. 

Handmade Father's Day Cards

This card captures manly essence!

I always struggle to make 'manly' cards. This one features a stamp on a painted piece of real wood that says You lead me, you guide me, you inspire me. Thanks, Dad. It has the tops of screw brads hot glued onto the wood and is glued onto a photorealistic wood plank paper. 

This item can be found in my shop, and has generally been one of my most popular products! 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/100866255/fathers-day-card?

Handmade Pregnancy Cards

I waited until my mom's birthday to tell her my husband and I were expecting. I made her this unsuspecting blue Happy Birthday card which contained a coupon redeemable for one grandchild. I made it valid for +/- one month of my due date. She was really surprised!! It was such a fun way to announce the news!

This was the formal announcement we mailed to friends and family. It is a tropical green 5x7 card with an orange swirl photo background. I accented the photo with a green ribbon and bow. The front features a baby block font and a stork with our due date in it's pouch. We chose green and orange to be gender neutral. This item can be found in my shop (https://www.etsy.com/listing/154709346/pregnancy-announcement). 

Handmade Gift Card Holders

So, I bought a Sizzix gift card holder die. 

http://www.sizzix.com/product/656307/sizzix-bigz-xl-die-gift-card-holder

The first project I made, a Mother's Day card.  It is pearl pink paper with purple 'Happy Mother's Day' and cherry blossom stamps. It is accented with an EK success cherry blossom sticker. 

My second project: a Congratulations Graduate gift card holder

It has an embossed cursive congratulations stamp with a cap and tassel die cut. I embossed the fold tab with polka dots. 

To view this item in my shop:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/150327207/congratulations-graduation-gift-card-or

I also used this die to create a handmade Father's Day gift card holder. I accented the front with a wooden stamp design. I added a die cut tool box and a small metal hammer and wrench. 

to view this item in my shop:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/151652934/fathers-day-card-fathers-day-gift-card?

LGBT Cards

I figured a great way to expand my product line was to aim for a different audience. I saw these male and female 'bathroom door' icons and thought they would be really cute for a quick way to represent couples of all kinds. This design could become male + male, female + female, or female + male pretty easily.

These designs are three dimensional from the card. 

they are available in my store for $2.50:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/125237066/lgbt-card

Handmade First Communion/Confirmation Invitations

I was contacted to make invitations for a first communion. I came up with this design. It's versatile, can be used with a lot of different color schemes or changed to work for a baby shower, baptism, or anything else you can think of. 

It features a main page with a cross brad mounted on a sheet of olive cardstock. The main sheet and brad are accented with a matching green ribbon.  The main sheet is attached to the shimmer baby blue gatefold and the entire thing is held shut by a vellum wave belly band. 

to view the listing:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/123801119/first-communion-invitation

Handmade Birthday Cards

This card is a challenge to start working more with stamps. 

I used an OMG it's your birthday as well as a swirly pattern stamp on this card. It also features a pink zebra pattern and two glitter embellishments. 

This card is available in my online store for $3 https://www.etsy.com/listing/122522639/pink-zebra-stripe-happy-birthday-card.

Scrapbooking a Hawaiian Honeymoon

I'm starting to gather supplies for my next project, scrapbooking our Hawaii honeymoon!

Title page is done! I took two random scenic photos that I couldn't remember where we even were and used them. They still look like Hawaii!

I glued the photos to a sheet of paper with a sun background and then glued those on a brown paper.  They were both from the Paper Studio's Beach pad (http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/12-x-12-a-day-at-the-beach-paper-pack-275719/). I added an old sticker I had in my sticker drawer of a sun, cut out a square of the matching sun paper and wrote Kona, Maui, and Oahu 2/2012 and glued it in the opposite corner. I used Lifestyle Craft's Lemon Drop alphabet (http://lifestylecrafts.com/lemon-drop.html) to cut out Hawaiian Honeymoon which I then used a zigzag stamp and brown ink to embellish. I cut out some words from another paper in the pad and added those to the bottom photo. The leaf die cuts are available in my shop (https://www.etsy.com/listing/124155636/tropical-leaves-die-cut).

This is the first page and features our first hotel, The Waikoloa Beach Marriott in Kona (http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/koamc-waikoloa-beach-marriott-resort-and-spa/). I went with a palm tree page to highlight the greenery found on the grounds. I used leaf shapes made from Lifestyle craft's leaves die (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Quickutz-Lifestyle-Crafts-C-0054-S-Rev-Tropical-Leaves-W-Pkg-Lg-2x1-1-8-/370672857067?pt=US_Die_Cutting_Machines_Dies&hash=item564dd2efeb). The paper was from the previously mentioned Beach paper pad. 

My second page honors the MANY mai tai's we consumed while honeymooning. These three photos are just of mai tais from the Marriott. Again, I used all paper patterns from the Paper Studio's Beach theme pad. I glued the photos onto the hibiscus paper and glued that onto a plain tan sheet. I added two green circles, cut with my Lifestyle Crafts nesting circles die (http://lifestylecrafts.com/nesting-circles.html). I added two pink hibiscus stamps as well as two orange hibiscus stickers near the title, which are just orange alphabet stickers placed to spell out Mai Tais. 

This was our visit to Akatsuka Orchid Farm, near Volcano National Park. I just wanted to stop by as an orchid fan. They have a lot of stuff!!  I used the same Paper Studio's Beaches theme pad for the purple and pink paper as well as the background page. I added three dimensional orchid stickers from EK success found at Michaels, and titled with green bubble letters I already had. 

On the same day, we visited Volcano National Park. There's really a lot to see there, including an active volcano plume! There are old lava flows to walk on, too. We also went through a lava flow tube, which was pretty dang cool!  I chose a tiki/wooden page pattern from the Paper Studio's Beach pad as the background. From the same paper, I chose a green pattern for the photo accent sheets. I cut a small volcano from a piece of kraft paper and crumpled it to make the volcano embellishment. I added some grey smoke and painted red lava bursts but also accented the volcano with brown paint. The caption at the bottom and the green paper was cut out using a random edge scissors I acquired from somewhere. I thought the pattern looked kind of rocky. 

These photos were taken at our visit to Kona's Botanical Garden. Unfortunately, we had just missed the blooming season, but there was still a lot to see, including tiki's and waterfalls. I chose the green leaf pattern from the same Paper Studio's Beach pad and mounted trimmed pictures on light green cardstock. I used Lifestyle Craft's nesting eyelet rectangles (http://lifestylecrafts.com/products/dies/nesting/nesting-eyelet-rectangles.html) for the title blocks and added a floral alphabet I've had lying around for years. I accented the pages with three dimensional palm tree stickers I found at Michael's.

Here is my page for visiting Punalu'u Black Sand Beach. I used a textured black 12x12 cardstock sheet with an orange seashell paper trimmed to 11x11 in the middle. I attached the four photos in an offset but centered design. I added some clear seashell stickers at the bottom as well as two seashell die cuts at the top (http://lifestylecrafts.com/seashell-clam.html). I accented the die cut seashells with yellowy/brown/orange rhinestones for some added bling. 

These photos were taken at Kona Brewing Company, a delicious and highly recommended restaurant we visited (http://konabrewingco.com/). I ordered pineapple pizza and my husband got these amazing pork and pineapple tacos. We would go back just to eat here!  I used a purple hibiscus paper for the background and a paper with words such as beach, paradise, and vacation, as the accent paper. I cut the photos and the paper in concentric circles using Lifestyle Craft's nesting circles (http://lifestylecrafts.com/nesting-circles.html) and make the heading with the previously mentioned Lemon Drop alphabet. I added a pineapple and ALOHA sticker.

Of course we had to include some beach photos! Here we are soaking up some sun! I chose a brown paper as the background and a yellow paper with a repeating sun pattern I had previously used. I added sea shell stickers for a beach feel. For the title, I printed "At the Beach" on kraft paper and stamped over it with a woodgrain stamp and brown ink (http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/woodgrain-background-rubber-stamp-255489/). 

This page was dedicated to our sunset cruise- featuring all you can drink mai tais- we took on Valentine's Day. The cruise was nice, and a great way to spend time together on the ocean. I chose a wavy paper pattern with plain blue accent paper. I trimmed the photos using Lifestyle Craft's nesting rounded corner squares (http://lifestylecrafts.com/products/dies/nesting/nesting-squares-rounded.html). I purchased the sail boats from etsy.com and added the title using blue alphabet stickers and following the wave flow of the paper. 

Maui time! We attended the Old Lahaina Luau, also featuring an open bar! It was a great time! I had purchased a paradise page kit I found on clearance at Hobby Lobby. It included this surf board paper which I used for the background. I chose a green triangle paper,  previously used, as an accent. I trimmed some of the sides straight and some following the diamond pattern. I added pink hibiscus and a yellow grass skirt stickers. My husband found me the Tiki Font, which I printed on the green paper using brown ink. 

I've always wanted to do a whale watching cruise. What better time than in Maui, right? We saw a lot of whales, but none of them breached. I ended up with a lot of pictures of just tails. But it was still worth it. I chose a water themed loose paper for sale at Hobby Lobby for the background. I mounted two of the clearest whale photos with random sized squares of dark blue and vellum paper. I added a rope font of Whale Watching on vellum for the title and embellished both with water splash stickers I already had. I used two whale die cuts from Lifestyle Craft's whale die cut (http://www.ebay.com/itm/LIFESTYLE-CRAFTS-QUICKUTZ-WHALE-DIE-DS0323-NEW-MARITIME-RELEASE-NIP-/121112900840?pt=US_Die_Cutting_Machines_Dies&hash=item1c32e434e8) and used the same water splash stickers to accent those. 

I had this paper background for years and finally got to use it! I took three of my favorite and most colorful pictures of the sunset on Maui and attached them right to the paper. I didn't want to take away from the background page. I added two colorful palm tree stickers for an accent. I used black sparkly chipboard letters for the Maui title and black cursive stickers for the sunset part of the title. 

I had a lot of photos from driving the Road to Hana; so I selected a few of my favorite from the scenery and made a two page layout. I featured an 8x10 of my husband and I in front of a gorgeous waterfall on one page and the rest of the photos I die cut into circles using Lifestyle Craft's nesting circles (http://lifestylecrafts.com/nesting-circles.html) which I adhered to green paper cut using Lifestyle Craft's nesting squares (http://lifestylecrafts.com/products/dies/nesting/nesting-squares-rounded.html). I added a few hibiscus and palm tree stickers and titled with a blue alphabet sticker. 

The next Maui activity we did was bike down a volcano! We took a tour in which a van drove us and some bikes up Haleakala and then we biked down at our own pace. I had a lot of photos from this activity as well, so I did another two page layout. There are some pictures of us riding down and some of us right at the top. I added bike die cuts I found on Etsy.com (https://www.etsy.com/transaction/127993288?ref=fb2_tnx_title) and a few stickers from my sticker stash. I titled this page in offset blue alphabet font and added two green tabs to some photos for little information tidbits from Lifestyle Craft's Tape It Kit (http://lifestylecrafts.com/products/dies/shape-n-tape/tape-it-kit.html). The one on the left summarizes the drive and how I crashed into a guardrail and messed up my leg. The tab on the right contains the fact that Haleakala is the third highest point in Hawaii!

And, the last leg of our stay was in Oahu. Here is our view from our room at Turtle Bay Resort with our complimentary champagne! I saved our keycard to add as an embellishment. I used a green and blue polka dot background and a blue seahorse paper for an accent. Both papers were from the Paper Studio's Beach pad (http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/12-x-12-a-day-at-the-beach-paper-pack-275719/). I added white sticker lettering to spell Oahu and a palm tree, hibiscus, sea horse, and paradise arrow sticker as accents as well. 

This page features a few snorkeling shots from Turtle Bay. I used a brown background and accented the photos with a hibiscus print on a yellow rectangle. I added some seashell brads around the photos, but you can't really see them because of the print paper. I embellished the page with a few beach themed stickers and accented the main, "life's a beach" sticker with two purple hibiscus die cuts (https://www.etsy.com/listing/152338790/hibiscus-flower-die-cut?). I used a funky font from my stockpile to title the page, snorkeling. 

This photo features the delicious drinks we had with dinner for my husband's birthday. The restaurant at the hotel was pricey, but delicious! The photo is accented with a pink hibiscus print overlapping a black and multicolor hibiscus print. I added a light pink journaling square which was die cut using Lifestyle Craft's nesting eyelet rectangles (http://lifestylecrafts.com/products/dies/nesting/nesting-eyelet-rectangles.html) and mounted that to the matching multicolor hibiscus print paper. I added a few stickers from my stockpile, a martini glass and umbrella by the journaling, and a party hat and horn by the photo. I accented the plain pink background with some glitter palm tree and hibiscus stickers.  

A visit to Pearl Harbor wraps up this album. I tried to give it a tropical industrial feel, but that was kind of tough. I accented the photos with a stripe paper from the Paper Studio's Beach pad (http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/12-x-12-a-day-at-the-beach-paper-pack-275719/) and added the photos to a crinkly metallic background card stock. I purchased corrugated cardboard letter stickers and adhered them to a grey graph paper like background. I cut the individual squares using Lifestyle Craft's nesting rounded corner squares (http://lifestylecrafts.com/products/dies/nesting/nesting-squares-rounded.html) and accented those with small grey brads.  I added a tag which states some basic information about the history of the site and a memorial sticker I purchased. 

The last page just features me in front of a torpedo, a photo of one of the battleships on site, and a picture of where Japan surrendered aboard the U.S.S. Missouri.